King Kunta

Recorded in 2013 and 2014 for To Pimp a Butterfly during sessions spread across Chalice Recording Studios, Downtown Studios, House Studios, Notifi Studios, and No Excuses Studios. Kendrick Lamar made the track with producers Terrace Martin, Michael Kuhle, and Sounwave, with Thundercat among the credited writers and Whitney Alford on background vocals. Released by Top Dawg, Aftermath, and Interscope in 2015, King Kunta was the third single from To Pimp a Butterfly and reached number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its funk-driven production, Compton video, and acclaim from critics helped make it one of the album's most immediate public statements. King Kunta remains one of Lamar's signature To Pimp a Butterfly tracks and a central example of the album's fusion of Black music history, literary reference, and political self-mythology. Its samples, chant-like hook, and Compton imagery kept it prominent in later live sets and critical retrospectives.